The hot cross bun taste test: homemade v shop-bought

The experiment this week: can people tell the difference between a homemade hot cross bun and a shop-bought one? And will a homemade bun – baked by yours truly, using bread maestro Richard Bertinet’s recipe – taste better than one from a supermarket?

A team of seven independent judges blind-tasted eight buns (including my homemade ones) and gave a mark out of 10. So starting from the bottom…

Tasting notes: It was the loaf’s very being that let it down. “This is not a bun,” said one taster. “It’s just toast with fruit,” moaned another. Poor Warburtons – it can’t help being sliced! However, one person did give it 8/10, and said that they could happily polish off a whole loaf.

Tasting notes: “Plain” sums up the feedback for this one. A bog-standard bun which was lacking in fruit. Although one taster, who likes his buns subtle, described it as “pleasant”, and gave a score of 7/10.

Tasting notes: One taster gave the Aldi bun 8.5/10, and another complimented it for its “nice flavour and sweetness”. But some found the dough too heavy, and another simply wrote “boring” in the comments box.

Tasting notes: Great big sigh of relief… I’m happy with a bronze medal. One person (my new favourite in the office) wrote, “Love it! Bursting with flavour – I want more!” and it also got a “Can’t stop”. But “too stodgy” and “needs more fruit” were also in there. Be still, my wounded heart!

Tasting notes: “The best!” exclaimed one taster – he loved the wholesome flavour. Everyone agreed that it had a lovely light texture, although somebody did say that it was “no way near as tasty as a proper hot cross bun”.